Election system of the Bundestag election 2025: The most important facts

The Bundestag election 2025 takes place on February 23. That Sunday, voters in Germany coordinate about their new parliament. A lot has changed compared to previous elections – for example, there are fewer seats in the Bundestag in Berlin. Some other rules have also been changed. You have to know everything:

All persons who have German citizenship and are 18 years or older have the right to choose the new Bundestag. In contrast to the European elections 2024, only adults may vote.

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The election notification is automatically sent: This indicated in which polling station you should choose and where it is. Incidentally, it is enough to appear there with a identity card or passport. So you don’t have to take the election notification with you.

If you don’t have time on the election day – for example because of a vacation – or if you want to save yourself the walk to the polling station for other reasons, you can also vote beforehand by postal voting.

It is necessary for the postal vote to be a voting certificate that you have to apply for from the municipal authority of your main residence – this is usually possible online. The election notification is also included.

However, this time the time for voting by postal voting is shorter than in the past regular election in 2021. The reason is that the election had to be preferred after the breakdown of the traffic light coalition. That is why shortened deadlines apply this time.

“You have to apply for, fill out and return your postal voting documents more quickly with your community,” emphasizes the authority of the Federal Election Director Ruth Brandt. There were probably only two weeks for postal voting. Because ballot papers could only be printed and sent after deadlines for the admission of election candidates after January 30th. According to Brandt’s authority, most voting offices are preparing for a start of postal voting between February 6th and February 10th.

The election letters must be received by the responsible body until the vote day on February 23 at 6 p.m. in order to be valid. Deutsche Post has guaranteed that election letters, which are thrown in by February 20, 2025 before the last emptying of the mailbox or submitted in a post office, reach the responsible election point in good time. If you want to be on the safe side, you can also hand in the election letter directly at the point that is printed on the envelope.

With the first vote, you choose a candidate directly who competes in the corresponding constituency. Most of the time he belongs to a party that previously defined the candidate. If you want to compete as an individual, you have to collect at least 200 signatures of voters from the constituency.

In turn, entire parties are available for the second voice. The nationwide share of these votes decides how strongly a party is later represented in parliament.

No, there is no legal obligation in Germany. Participation in the Bundestag election is voluntary and a democratic right. According to German, an obligation to vote for freedom of choice would run counter. The situation is different in countries such as Belgium, Greece, Luxembourg or Cyprus. There, people who do not choose without a valid reason can be fined.

Five election principles are essential for democratic elections in Germany. They are:

At the last principle, however, it is criticized that people with disabilities need support in some cases and that thereby cannot always make their election decision completely unobserved, which questions the principle of confidentiality.

In the case of early federal elections, many important deadlines, for example for the registration of candidates or parties, cannot be complied with. Therefore, the Federal Ministry of the Interior (BMI) may shorten the deadlines and appointments according to paragraph 52 paragraph 3 of the Federal Election Act. The BMI does not need approval from the Federal Council for this, but can regulate this itself by regulation.

According to the Basic Law, federal elections must take place between 46 and 48 months after the start of the election period. As a result, there is some scope, and the choice can take place again in the future at another time of the year.

The new Bundestag will be significantly smaller due to a reform: the number of mandates was limited to 630 – around 100 less than up to date. For this, the so-called overhang and equalization mandates are eliminated, which have so far often led to a greatly enlarged parliament. Now the candidate directly elected by the first vote only move into the Bundestag if your party also has enough second votes.

Examples of a simple calculation: If a party in a federal state gets 50 direct mandates, but after the second vote result there are only 48 mandates, then the two direct candidates go away with the worst first vote results. Your constituencies are then not represented with their own MPs in the parliament.

In the Bundestag election, the Chancellor is not chosen directly, but by the MPs in Parliament. This vote is one of the most important tasks of the newly elected representatives. And this choice takes place when the future government parties agree in the coalition negotiations.

In addition to the CDU/CSU, SPD and the Greens, the AfD and the BSW also nominated their candidates for the CDU/CSU, SPD and Greens. Thus, for the first time, five candidates for Chancellor will compete for their parties for the first time. However, not all of them have a chance of the chancellery at all.